Backer was born in Belgium, but moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia when he was two. Originally a member of the indie band Downstares, Backer began performing under the name Gotye in 2001 when the band disbanded. Aside from his solo work, De Backer has been a member of the indie band The Basics since its formation in 2002.
Gotye's second album Like Drawing Blood was featured by Triple J in May 2006 and was voted Number 1 in the listeners poll of the Best Album of 2006 . The album was also nominated for a J Award that year. Two tracks from that album, Learnalilgivinanlovin and Heart's A Mess, were ranked 94 and 8 respectively in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2006. Like Drawing Blood has been certified Platinum.
In September 2006, Gotye was nominated for an Australian Recording Industry Music Award (ARIA award) for best independent release for his album Like Drawing Blood, and won 'Most Outstanding New Independent Artist' at the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Chart Awards.
In 2007, Gotye won the ARIA for best male artist. As a result of the publicity of the nomination, Like Drawing Blood re-entered the ARIA album chart and was named iTunes UK Album of the Year in 2008.
In 2009, Heart's A Mess came in at #77 in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time, voted by the Australian public.
Amidst the lead-up to Gotye's third album, Like Drawing Blood re-entered the ARIA charts in mid 2011, peaking at its highest ever position of 13.
After the success of Like Drawing Blood, De Backer was able to establish a permanent home, still in Melbourne's South East. In 2010, De Backer set up a recording studio in a barn at his parents' farm and set about recording tracks for his third album. He released a new single, Eyes Wide Open, in mid-October 2010, online and on 10" vinyl. The single received generally positive reviews and reached number 25 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010. It was also shortlisted for the 2011 APRA Music Awards in the Song of the Year category.
In late March 2011, De Backer revealed the album's title to be Making Mirrors. This title was inspired by an artwork, painted by De Backer's father in the 1980s, discovered by De Backer amongst old bills and newspapers in his parents' barn, which was later edited in Photoshop to become the album artwork. "The mirror reflects on artwork and it is all very related to self-reflection and introspection on the album."
On 19 May, it was announced that the album would be released on 19 August 2011, with the album launch the following day at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Graphic Festival which will feature animators and a 10-piece orchestra as part of Gotye's performance. De Backer also released a follow-up single to Eyes Wide Open titled Somebody That I Used to Know, which was released 6 July 2011, and debuted at #27 on the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. The single became something of a sensation, quickly moving up the ARIA singles chart despite comparatively low airplay to many other charting singles at the time. The track was further boosted by endorsements from well-known celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Lily Allen via Twitter, exposing Gotye's music to their millions of followers. The single has gone on to reach 6× Platinum (420,000 units sold) status.
On 15 July 2011, it was announced that Gotye's single Somebody That I Used to Know had come third in the 2011 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition. As part of the prize, Gotye won a spot to perform at Song Summit 2012 at Darling Harbour, 26–28 May 2012.
On its first week of release, Making Mirrors came in at number one on the ARIA Australian album chart, making Gotye the first Australian act to simultaneously hold both the number one single and album since Silverchair, who achieved the same feat in 2007.
On 11 October 2011, it was announced that Gotye had been nominated for seven ARIA Awards. Due to the release date restrictions of the eligibility period, Making Mirrors could not be nominated, and the seven nominations all related to the single Somebody That I Used to Know. Gotye was nominated for Highest Selling Single, Single of the Year, Best Pop Release, Best Male Artist and three awards in the ARIA Artisan category: Best Video (Natasha Pincus), Engineer of the Year (Francois Tetaz) and Producer of the Year (Wally De Backer). On the same day the nominations were revealed, the winners of the Artisan categories were announced, with Gotye and the album personnel winning all three. On 27 November 2011, Gotye took out three of the four remaining ARIA Award nominations. Single of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Pop Release.
"Somebody That I Used To Know" has become an international hit, reaching #1 in Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Poland, Austria, Ireland, Norway, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany, and also reached #1 on the alternative radio airplay charts in The United States and Canada (on the pop charts in those countries, the song has reached #5 and #11, respectively).
Heart
Gotye Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The pieces of your heart
And let me peer inside
Let me in
Where only your thoughts have been
Let me occupy your mind
As you do mine
Too much love
To fear, doubt and distrust
Its not enough
You just threw away the key
To your heart
You don't get burned
'Cause nothing gets through
It makes it easier
Easier on you
But that much more difficult for me
To make you see
Love ain't fair
So there you are
My love
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you, you can't live like this
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you, you can't live like this
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you can't live like this
Love ain't safe
You won't get hurt if you stay chaste
So you can wait
But I don't wanna waste my love
The lyrics to Gotye's song "Heart's A Mess" portray a desperate plea to connect with someone who has lost faith in love due to past hurt and betrayal. The singer urges the listener to let him into their heart, to let him occupy their thoughts in the same way they occupy his - he is willing to take that risk despite the potential pain of rejection. The listener is portrayed as having thrown away the key and closed themselves off to love, protecting themselves from future hurt but also preventing themselves from experiencing the joys of love.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Your heart's a mess, you won't admit to it" three times, highlighting the listener's denial of their pain and the emotional turmoil they are experiencing. The singer acknowledges that love isn't fair and that the listener has been hurt and let down, but he's begging them to take the risk and try again, to see that it's worth it.
Overall, "Heart's A Mess" is a powerful and honest portrayal of the struggle to love again after experiencing heartbreak. It's a reminder that love is never easy or guaranteed, but the potential reward is worth the risk.
Line by Line Meaning
Pick apart
An invitation to deconstruct the various components of their heart
The pieces of your heart
The different aspects or fragments of their heart
And let me peer inside
Letting the singer take a look at the inner workings of their heart
Let me in
Allowing the artist to enter their heart
Where only your thoughts have been
A space that previously only contained their own thoughts
Let me occupy your mind
Giving the singer permission to take up space in their thoughts
As you do mine
Expressing how the singer wants to be of equal importance in their thoughts
You have lost
Having experienced a significant amount of loss
Too much love
An abundance of love that has been spent or lost
To fear, doubt and distrust
Because of being plagued with emotions such as fear, doubt, and distrust
Its not enough
Whatever they currently have is perceived to be insufficient
You just threw away the key
Giving up control of their heart and not knowing how to regain it
To your heart
To the very core of who they are
You don't get burned
Not allowing themselves to be vulnerable enough to get hurt
'Cause nothing gets through
Nothing can penetrate the walls they have put up around their heart
It makes it easier
This protective strategy is easier in some ways
Easier on you
Because they don't feel as exposed or vulnerable
But that much more difficult for me
A challenge for the person who wants to connect with them romantically
To make you see
Trying to help them understand the necessity for being open to love
Love ain't fair
Acknowledging that love is often complex and painful
So there you are
Accepting that this is their current emotional state
My love
An expression of affection from the artist
Your heart's a mess
Highlighting the confusion and chaos that exists within their heart
You won't admit to it
Denying the existence of the turmoil in their heart
It makes no sense
The situation seems nonsensical and illogical
But I'm desperate to connect
Despite the potential risks, the singer desires a connection with them
And you, you can't live like this
Implying that their current emotional state is unsustainable
Love ain't safe
Reiterating that love can be dangerous and uncertain
You won't get hurt if you stay chaste
Suggesting that by not engaging in romantic relationships, they can avoid getting hurt
So you can wait
Advising them to be patient and wait for the right person
But I don't wanna waste my love
The singer doesn't want to hold back their affection and miss out on a potential connection
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, BMG Rights Management
Written by: IRVING BURGIE, WILLIAM A ATTAWAY, WALTER ANDRE E DE BACKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dennsis9420
Pick apart
The pieces of your heart
And let me peer inside
Let me in
Where only your thoughts have been
Let me occupy your mind
As you do mine
You have lost
Too much love
To fear, doubt and distrust
Its not enough
You just threw away the key
To your heart
You don't get burned
'Cause nothing gets through
It makes it easier
Easier on you
But that much more difficult for me
To make you see
Love ain't fair
So there you are
My love
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you, you can't live like this
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you, you can't live like this
Your heart's a mess
You won't admit to it
It makes no sense
But I'm desperate to connect
And you can't live like this
Love ain't safe
You won't get hurt if you stay chaste
So you can wait
But I don't wanna waste my love
@r.1599
I love the song, but let's talk about the video:
Gotye starts out resting on what is very clearly Earth's moon. Then he drops down onto what looks like a devastated Earth. Its skies are darkened to night. The only things we see on the surface of the planet are a few destroyed buildings. He is followed by a mechanical spider weaving a dark shadow. As he walks, he holds a megaphone up to his lips, calling out a message.
He walks through a formation of soldiers forcibly marching a creature with a tank of water on its back, a tear in its eye and moving on trembling crutches. The last of the clean water. It leaves the soldiers to join Gotye.
As the trio approach a collapsed home, three little spirits precede it and jump into the beak of a seemingly dead crane that is laden down with a broken fishing shack, a fishing line, and a stork's baby bundle. It has a Radioactive sign on its side, and its eyes have been bound shut. When the little spirits jump into its beak, it rises and joins the group.
They continue to traverse the wasteland, the spider walking backwards as it watches the ever-growing shadow that it weaves, cover the land. They pass through the burned remains of a forest, where the eyes of what used to live there watch them. A logger with an axe in its hand and laden down with a cargo of felled trees, joins them.
"You just threw away the key."
Ahead, the only seemingly living things are the still-polluting factories and an oil refinery, still belching out their poisons long after life has left the planet; in the foreground a crane with a wrecking ball mindlessly demolishes what's left of the apartment buildings; it's made for destruction and is driven to destroy until everything is gone. As the group passes it, it looks up from its mission, sees them, looks over the buildings it has been wrecking, and leaves its work to join them.
As they leave that area, the dirty glare of the factory lights and the oil refinery's gas flare gleam sickenly in the distance.
Above, to the left, the light of a tiny craft shoots up and out to escape through a thinner patch of sky where sunlight struggles to shine through weakly. It is not night after all; the sun has been blotted out by the thick cloud of pollution.
They stop by the sea's edge. A lonely sea monster with the head of a fish rows in on the last remaining piece of sea ice, which is rapidly melting. The sea monster joins the exodus as the spider gently pulls a blanket of shadow across the planet – it is almost completely covered now.
They pass through a cemetery where the Big Five (Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP and TotalEnergies) finally grieve and wring their hands while surrounded by the gravestones of the protesters that were killed for raising the alarm. A tortured spirit rises from the ground, his mouth bound and silenced. He has a flower on his head and twisted around his body is the spirit of the thing he died trying to protect: life. With a backward glance back at the tycoons, he too joins the parade.
They reach the place Gotye first landed when he jumped down from the moon, and the spider finishes pulling the funeral shroud over the Earth.
The members of the little parade climb each other up past the reach of gravity, and float into space. Farewell to the home we destroyed and lost. Is it a kind of suicide?
The song is sad but the video is so full of grief.
@blackberry8615
Don’t worry guys he just forgot his YouTube password
@mika-ik6vx
very original
@lizzytytysgirl36
BlackBerry he sure did this video is from damn near 10 years ago xD
@tonyrios5600
Oh I thought it was something else 😪
@couldntbeotherwise
Where is he at thou
@kentv1052
BlackBerry I think so
@LoganSoul
Seeing Gotye as a tall, depressed bean is all I ever wanted
@naya6984
bro 😭
@lebirb3670
AMOGUS
@chamoix
@@lebirb3670 💀